Since the Leavy admissions the other day, we have TONS of Seahawks fans exhuming the notion that Super Bowl XL was fixed. The most common version of this that I have seen is that at the highest levels of NFL leadership, the decision was made to rig the outcome in favor of the Pittsburgh Steelers.
My challenge to you, particularly to those of you who believe this, is to present a convincing argument as to WHY the NFL would do such a thing.
Don't say it was about money, because there's no plausible connection between the result of XL on the field and the size of the NFL's next set of TV contracts. As I hope you all know, selling broadcast rights accounts for the VAST majority of the NFL's revenue. Merchandise sales create a pittance of dollars compared to what NBC, CBS, FOX, ESPN and DirecTV pay to broadcast the games, so even if your argument is "A Steelers win would create bigger sales of Super Bowl Champions gear," that's laughably out of whack. Why would the NFL risk a criminal conspiracy that could theoretically destroy the popularity of the league (and cost billions), so they could sell a couple million more T-shirts? It simply doesn't track.
Also, if there was an actual conspiracy, who was involved in it? This is a weakness of bat-shit crazy conspiracy theories in general, but in this specific case, how many people would have been involved? Wouldn't the risks of such a conspiracy outweigh the potential benefits?
Finally, a more philosophical point: If you TRULY believe that XL was rigged, why the fuck do you still follow the sport? I'd love to hear the explanations on that one.
Let's use Occam's Razor for a minute: What is more plausible... That there was a criminal conspiracy involving god knows how many people to fix the Super Bowl for nebulous, ill-defined reasons? Or that a group of officials expecting a typical, VIP-heavy Super Bowl crowd were shocked/intimidated by a wildly partisan Pro-Steelers throng in the stands, and simply, cowardly, CHOKED?
I await your cogent arguments, fellow Twelves.